Folding easel



I. W. BRIGGS.

FOLDING EASEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE l2, I920.

1,359,026, Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

filial 729% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. BRIGGS, OF MOORHEAD, MINNESOTA.

FOLDING EASEL.

Application filed June 12,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. BRIGGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moorhead, in the county of Clay and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Easels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to easels, and more particularly to folding easels to be used by undertakers and others for supporting wreaths and other set pieces of flowers, and the like.

My object is to provide a device of this character, of simple, cheap, and durable construction, which can be easily folded and packed in a box or other container without danger of damaging the same, and that can be packed so compactly in the same package with flowers, set pieces, etc., that the packages will be much more frost-proof in cold weather, while at the same time being always neat and tasty in appearance.

Another object is to provide a device of this character which can be set upon a fine table, piano, or other highly polished piece of furniture without danger of scratching the same.

A still further object is to provide an easel having a member so formed that cards and set pieces may be fastened upon it, said mem her being supported permanently on the easel and utilized to hold the parts of the same in operative position when in use.

A leading feature of the device consists of an easel formed of stron wire or small rods, each leg being formec. of two pieces hinged together; and a triangular member adapted to lock the two parts of each individual leg in extended position, and to also hold the 'legs in operative relation to each other, while at the same time being so formed that'cards and set pieces may be fastened upon it.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement 01 parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of my device in operative position.

Fig. 2 is a view on a somewhat enlarged scale showing the device in its folded pos1- tion. 1

Fig. 3 shOWS the lower section of one of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920. 1920. Serial No. 388,505.

the legsof the device. Fig. 4 shows the upper portion of the two front legs, and;

l 1g. 5, the upper portion of the rear leg.

The numeral 1 indicates the upper portion of the two front legs which is formed of a single piece of wire bent at its middle with its two sides diverging from each other and bent upon themselves at their lower ends to form the loops 2; said loops having the free ends of the wire of which they are formed extending upwardly a material dis tance to form the sections 3 lying parallel with the section 1. The upper portion of the rear leg (see Fig. 5) is formed of a straight bar 4 having a loop 5 at its lower end with the upturned section 6, said loop and upturned section being similar to the loops 2 with their upturned sections 3.

The lower portions of all'the legs are substantiall alike. One of these ortions is separate y illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and consists of a main section 7 and an upper section 8 connected together by the integral eye 9 formed by suitably bending the piece of wire out of which the two sections are formed from a single piece of wire. At the extreme lower end of each section 7 s a bend 10 preferably extending inwardly toward the center of the easel, t form a foot, as it were.

The upper end of the rear leg section 4 is provided with an eye 4 which receives the apex 1 of the bent upper section of the front legs, and the eyes 9 cooperate with the similar front and rear loops 2 and 5 to form hinge joints t approximately. the middle of the legs.

The triangular support (a is formed of a bar 11 provided with hooks 12 at its ends for engaging the front legs of the easel, and stay for the rear leg of the easel, formed of a single piece of wire bent at its middle to form a roomy loop 13 with the two sections 14 and 15 of the wire crossing each other at the inner side of the loop and terminating in hooks l6 and 17 which are received on the bar 11 between its hooks 12.

Vhen the legs are extended so that their upper and lower parts are in alinement with each other, the hooks 12 (which practically form eyes on the ends of the bar 11) are slipped down over the upper ends 8 of the lower sections of the front legs and hold said lower leg sections in their extended therethrough.

approximately The lower section of the rear leg is preferably made longer than the corresponding ions of the front legs, in order to support the loop 13 in a plane above the rod 11 to give to the triangular supprt a a sllght forward. inclination.

When it is desired to fold the device for packing, the hooks 12 and loop 13 are simply elevated sufliciently to free the upper ends of the lower leg sections which are then turned upwardly into approximate parallelism with their respective upper sections; and the loop 13 is moved on up the rear upper leg section 1 to permit the lower end of said section to swing inwardly into the same plane with the upper sections 1 of the front legs of the device, all of which is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. In order to permit this movement of the upper section of the rear leg, the loop 13 is suitably elongated and is curved slightly downward from the point at its inner side where the two rods 13 and 14c cross each other.

The bends 10 at the extreme lower ends of the legs prevent the device from scratching any highly polished furniture upon which it may be found convenient to set it.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1- 1. An easel having its legs formed. of

upper and lower sections hinged together with the end of one section lapping the end of its cooperating section when the legs are in their extended position; and means carried on one set of said sections'for removably engaging said lapping portions of the sections to hold thelegs in their extended position, and also for holding the extended legs in their operative position relatively to each other.

2. An easel formed of metallic rods bent into form and having its legs formed of upper and lower sections hinged together with the upper ends of the lower sections extending above the hinge connections of their respective upper sections and thereby lapping the lower ends of said upper sections; a frame carried on the upper leg sections for slipping down over said lapping portions of the lower sections to hold the legs in their extended position, said frame also serving to hold the extended legs of the easel in operative position relatively to each other.

easel in operative position relatively to each other, the rear leg of the easel being hinged at its top to the front portion of the easel and adapted to fold toward the same, said frame having a portion engaging said rear leg and hinged to the front portion of the easel to permit the frame to fold toward the front part of the easel along with the rear leg.

4. A folding easel having the upper portion of its front legs formed of a single piece of material; hinged sections extending downwardly from said upper sections to form the lower sections of the front legs; a rear leg hinged at its upper end to the upper end of the front portion of the easel, the lower portion of the rear leg being similar to the lower portions of the front legs; and atriangula'r framecarried on the upper leg sections of the easel for holding the hinged legs in their extended position and for also holding the extended legs in their operative positions relatively to each other.

5. A folding easel having its legs formed of upper and lower sections hinged together and adapted to fold upon each other, the

portion of the front legs being upper formed of a single piece of metal bent into two sections diverging downwardly from each other, and the upper section of the rear leg being hinged to the top of the upper portion of the front legs; a transverse bar near the lower end of the upper front leg sections to hold said sections suitably spaced from each other; and a member hinged to said bar and extending rearwardly therefrom into engagement with the upper section of the rear leg to hold the same-suitably spaced from the front leg sections, said last named member and bar being also adapted to engage the two cooperating hinged sections of the respective legs to hold'the legs in their extended positions.

6. An easel formed of metallic rods and having its legs formed of upper and lower sections with the lower ends of the upper leg sections bent upon themselves to form eyes with the free upwardlyturned ends of the rods extending up a material distance above said eyes, the lower leg sections being each bent to form a link inits upper end at a point spaced a distance from said upper end somewhat greater than the upward extent of the upwardly bent portion at the lower end of the upper leg sections, said link in each lower section being received down over the upwardly projecting end of into the eye of its cooperating upper seceach lower section and to rest upon the ex- 10 tion to form a hinge joint between the two treme upper end of the upwardly bent porsections, with the upper end of the lower tion at the lower end of the upper section, to section projecting up and lapping the lower hold the respective legs in their extended end of the upper section when the legs are positions.

in extended position; and a member carried In testimony whereof I afiix m signature. 15 on the upper leg sections adapted to slip JOHN W. RIGGS. 

